Just what I expected

It is a performances centric movie

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

From director Lars Von Trier (Dogville), I remember seeing this Danish film at least once or twice, but I didn't really know what to think of it, the critics think it is good. Basically it sees a group of young adults, all normal, regular and intelligent people spend time together in a small society to find their "inner idiot". This is to have some kind of entertainment in public pretending to be mentally retarded, taking advantage of the situation with those who fall into believing it. One of the newly recruited members of the group starts out going along with it, but slowly she becomes highly uncomfortable with the stupid activities they are getting themselves into, they are almost becoming what they are pretending to be, retarded. Starring Bodil Jørgensen as Karen, Jens Albinus as Stoffer, Anne Louise Hassing as Susanne, Troels Lyby as Henrik, Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Jeppe, Louise Mieritz as Josephine, Henrik Prip as Ped and Luis Mesonero as Miguel. To be honest the only bit of the film I can ever remember is the part when they are all taking their clothes off, running about naked, and having a near orgy, but I do also remember it having an interesting documentary style, it is a weird comedy drama. Worth watching, at least once, in my opinion!

The first thing that has to be said is that The Idiots is definitely NOT for simple entertainment. But yet I doubt there is any other film out there quite like it...Von Trier is a great director, able to get the best possible performances from his actors. Unlike the other films that I have seen from him, the performances here come from the ensemble cast as a whole, and each is powerful in their own way. There is not one false note here. When reading the plot I thought that maybe this would be Von Trier's funniest film. Yet I was wrong. If anything, the obvious Dogme movement gives it an affecting and shocking look. I have to note that the plot itself is quite brave and completely unnerving, which is why I think that this is perhaps his most challenging film yet, and in a way, his most disturbing. From the five films that I have seen from him, this probably ranks last, just because as a film it doesn't quite get going, yet by the ending it still manages to have a great effect.

I watched this a long time ago but never reviewed it. The Idiots' is a film directed by Lars Von Trier in 1998, it was made in compliance with the Dogme '95 Manifesto; an avant-garde filmmaking movement started in 1995, and was his first film. 'The Idiot's' focuses upon the tale of a group of people who feign mental disabilities in pursuit of their 'inner idiot', their 'spassing out' is an attempt to release their inhibitions.The film was deemed shocking, despite many disability groups approving of the film and agreeing that it exposed underlying social prejudices against disability. Micro-elements contributed to the shocking effect which this film induced upon some audiences. Realism was used to suspend the audiences sense of disbelief, such was achieved through sound, which was mainly diegetic. The dialogue seems real, unrehearsed and alike to everyday conversation but for the content of the conversations between characters. In making the dialogue believable, and in casting the characters to be believable, the film seems more real, thereby engaging the audience attention, forcing them to relate to it. The shock value is inevitably heightened.My personal interpretation of the film is that it aims to educate the audience about society's general view and attitude towards disabled people. The female main character begins oblivious to the groups intentions and ways (like the audience) and as she is led into their world so is the audience. The film seems to be about seeking deeper meanings, and sharing different perspectives, whether it be sharing the perspectives of someone completely healthy, someone disabled, someone inside the group or outside of it. I think that initially the main character acts as a representation of the ignorance of a lot of people to disability, and is a tool within the film to educate the audience. The film does not seem to hold bias as to a certain perspective, but rather it is exploratory of different perspectives, whether they be shown through conflict between the characters, or contrast between general society and the group.I highly recommend this film, and suggest viewers put aside their judgements until the credits scroll.

It's easy to confuse the adjectives "controversial" and "thought-provoking". The difference is that the former is a concept manufactured by the media and the latter is the raison d'etre of film-makers like Lars von Trier. Ostensibly this is a film about a group of people pretending to have cerebral palsy. But obviously that's not what it's really about; and I think that only those without the inclination to seek one of many possible meanings would label it "controversial" on this basis. It's classic knee-jerk.The Idiots is a challenging indictment of middle-class hypocrisies and an enthralling deconstruction of the bohemian ideal.Early in the film the question keeps being asked: Why is what we're doing wrong? "Because you're poking fun." But who really comes out of the narrative looking idiotic? The stuttering patio-owner, fearful of a potential insurance claim? Josephine's father, who tears his weeping daughter away from her friends? Rarely it's The Idiots themselves, whose motivations are subtly sketched out as Stoffer's commune collapses around him.Stoffer himself is "anti-middle-class", suggesting he's simply afraid of growing up. There's the doctor, constantly writing notes, who may be treating the whole affair as some kind of social experiment. There's the marketing man, using the commune as an escape from the superficiality of his truly idiotic occupation. And there's Karen, our silent observer, whose own reasons for falling in love with The Idiots comes to flatten us in the final reel. This leads to a gripe: certain characters remain nothing MORE than sketches. I would have liked to see von Trier eschew some of the social confrontation scenes in favour of further narrative episodes.Some scenes - such as the door-to-door Christmas decoration sale, or the house-buyers' tour - may come across as crass and cruel, but they're fascinating insofar as they present the hypocrisies that lie in the heart of us all.Perhaps the impact of The Idiots' public "spassing" is softened somewhat in these post-Borat/Bruno days. But von Trier is a trickier customer than Baron Cohen. As such, we laugh aloud, but we're never quite sure of who we're laughing - or, indeed, if we should be laughing at all. Watch this, and then watch how all other films seem quaint by comparison.